The Makin Waves Song of the Week, "Over U," is one of the 10 tracks featured on two new EPs released simultaneously by Strawberry Sore Throat, the recording side project of Makin Waves Award-winning singer-songwriter Stella Mrowicki. PHOTO BY STELLA MROWICKI
Stella Mrowicki has lived up to a rich family musical legacy as a Makin Waves Award-winning roots-rocking singer-songwriter.
Now she’s gone into a pop direction with her recording project Strawberry Sore Throat, which simultaneously has released two five-song EPs, “You Again?” and “I Didn’t Think About These.” A track from the former, “Over U,” is the Makin Waves Song of the Week.
As the Makin Waves Song of the Week, “Over U” also can be heard between 6 and 8 p.m. on March 28 on “Radio Jersey” at ThePenguinRocks.com. If you miss it, you can tune in any time in the archives at The Penguin and Mixcloud.
“‘Over U’ was the first song I wrote on this record and what sparked the resurrection of this project,” Stella said. “I was inspired by an idea for a script my dear friend and collaborator Christian Cordes had shared with me, which centered around the idea of emotional connection through music. I had felt very compelled to utilize objects around me to encapsulate the time and space I’m currently in both physically and creatively. The Rhodes keyboard, one of my favorite instruments, is the backbone of this track and nods to the old r&b and soul records that have inspired me from youth. The percussion features a variety of unique instruments, even including articles of clothing like jewelry. I rub metal rings together to create a percussive loop throughout the song. Since this project was so different from my previous releases, I felt compelled to disassociate it from other works, which I feel allowed me to have full creative freedom with the remainder of the tracks on this record. Overall, the purpose of this project was to capture my current creative journey and share it with the world, or whoever is willing to listen.”
The daughter of longtime Makin Waves friend Lee Mrowicki, the Voice of The Stony, Stella is known for brilliant 2019 self-titled debut LP and its 2020 EP follow-up, “Pine Trees and Wildflowers.” But the new material marks a fresh chapter in her sonic evolution, blending genre experimentation with raw creative expression. A graduate of Rowan University’s Music Technology and Industry program, she continues to learn new audio software and explore new sounds.
“You Again?” showcases an eclectic mix of pop, electronic, R&B, and neo-soul influences, offering a dynamic and genre-fluid listening experience.
“The remainder of the songs on ‘You Again’ were created with little intention, which allowed the creative process to flow very quickly and freely,” Stella said. “Many of them were written within a day, or fragments of them were collected and recycled from older, unreleased songs. There are a variety of samples used throughout the songs from my own archive of recordings, as well as excerpts of poetry from Mary Oliver woven throughout, specifically on ‘Shh’ and ‘On Top.’ These excerpts and sounds all hold symbolic meaning to me, and I feel are representative of my journey in personal growth.”
“I Didn’t Think About These” is an instrumental collection of electronic, hip hop & dance tracks, crafted in one-hour sessions using vinyl samples, personal audio recordings, and electronic elements.
The collection of beats were created using a limit of eight tracks per song, Stella said, allowing her to work with creative editing techniques and effects to convey ideas in a simpler, yet technically challenging way.
“Many of them were created within one-hour time frames,” she said. “Again, this record is an encapsulation of my current creative state and expression. The first three — ‘Dreamin,’ ‘Retha’ and ‘Smalls Jazz Rip I’ — feature samples from my personal vinyl collection, which I recorded using an old vinyl DJ mixer my father had bestowed onto me many years back. Experimenting with this resulted in a multitude of samples, many of which are still yet to be used. ‘Smalls Jazz Rip I,’ as well as ‘Steel Jazz’ feature samples recorded during a live jam at Smalls Jazz Club, one of my favorite live music venues. While many of these tracks were created with minimal intention, they all still serve a personal connection by incorporating myself and my environment in ways I haven’t considered before.”
Though there are currently no live performances planned, Stella hints at potential future shows. For now, Strawberry Sore Throat remains a passion project — one that invites listeners into an intimate, exploratory soundscape.
For more information, visit https://linktr.ee/strawberrysorethroat.
Bob Makin has produced Makin Waves since 1988. Follow Makin Waves on Facebook and contact Bob at [email protected].
